Mission Of This Blog

The overall mission statement of this blog is to share many unique topics of this blogger's interest. Topics include (but are not limited to):Southern Cultural Heritage,Local History of the South Carolina Upstate,Confederate Heritage Preservation & Awareness,Americana,Nature & Wildlife Preservation,Science & Science Fiction,Astronomy & Night Sky Photography,Literacy & Writing,Travel & Local Places Of Interest, Southern Cuisine, Popular Culture & Philosophy, Classic Animation Nostalgia,Fandom....as well as various other topics explained from the blogger's point of view. The following website contains theUNCENSOREDthoughts and opinions of a Southern-born country writer from upstate South Carolina - the living, beating heart of the great American Southland!

Tuesday, June 30, 2015

Well....okay, maybe not so much the immortality thing. Still there was a beautiful planetary conjunction tonight.

It was overcast from a summer shower earlier in the afternoon and for awhile there I was concerned that yet another outstanding astronomical event would take place and I would miss getting a photo of it. Fortunately the sky cleared briefly, long enough for me to get these outstanding shots of the planetary conjunction between Venus and Jupiter.

Both planets are approximately one half of a degree apart in the western sky, that's less distance than the width of the moon.

Sunday, June 28, 2015

Tonight had optimal conditions for planetary photography, as well as two really amazing astronomical events featuring Luna and three planets.

The first photo was a great shot I took of the bright waxing gibbous moon and the planet Saturn just below it in the southern sky.

The latter two are really good shots of Venus and Jupiter taken just after sunset in the western sky.

As you can see both planets are getting closer to their meeting on Tuesday, June 30th, when both with be separated by only one-half of a degree in a beautiful planetary conjunction. If my run of optimal weather conditions continues, I should be able to capture the progression of these two wanderers between now and then.

And Only The Forces Of Bigotry Will Win If We Allow It Or Accept It To.

Why Hatred of the Dixie Cross Banner is a Pro-White Supremacist Viewpoint

By: C.W. Roden

"Silence in the face of evil is itself evil: God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak, not to act is to act." ~Deitrich Bonhoeffer "He who passively accepts evil is as
much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it. He who accepts
evil without protesting against it is really cooperating with it."

~ Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Dedicated to ALL Southern people who honor the South's noble flag, those who will no longer stand silent, nor fail to speak out against its misuse by evil.

As I pointed out in my previous blog post, all
legitimate Confederate heritage organizations and the Sons of Union Veterans Civil War (SUVCW) as well as several other groups, including the Cherokee and
Choctaw Tribes of America, have all passed resolutions in the late 80s and early 90s
condemning the misuse of the Confederate flag as a symbol of hatred.

These acts were especially significant because they were
committed by the lineal descendants of both Confederate soldiers and those Union soldiers who
fought against them during the War Between the States (American Civil War) 1861
- 1865...virtually the only people today who have a moral right to define what
that flag and its heritage truly stands for.

Since that time, Southern heritage organizations
have been working to promote the positive aspects of that heritage, often times
with good results and other times with negative ones.

The good being that today any news story about such a
misuse cannot be reported without some noble defender of Southern culture and Confederate heritage speaking out against the
misuse of that flag, and condemning the hatred some bigot tries to associate
with it. Southerners of all ethnicity and faiths, Americans and others around
the world with Confederate ancestry all honor it openly and push back hard against
any attempt to do away with its public or personal display.

The negative being that sometimes Southern heritage
activists choose to completely ignore the impact such misuses have and push the
flag's display without first making efforts at advancing proper education to
the public about the flag's display and its full history - both the good and
the bad.

I personally feel that full disclosure ultimately
creates open and proper dialogue with those who have no particular feeling on
the flag, or its continued public and private displays.

Creating any sort of proper dialogue with those who
stand opposed to the display of that flag in any context whatsoever is another
matter.

As I pointed out in my last blog post, many of
those
anti-Southern and anti-Confederate heritage regressives who stand with the Opposition believe their actions serve the greater social and political
good -- at least as they would define the concept. Some of them are not always the narrow-minded fanatics who drink the
kool-aid of politically correct ideology and close their minds and hearts to
any thinking that doesn't conform to their own worldview.

In fact, some of them are people who have genuinely
encountered ignorance and hatred displayed by someone who bore that honored
standard wrongly. The result being a jaded worldview regarding any display and
an automatic suspicion of anyone who feels the need to honor it. Such people
are not evil in any sense of the word, nor do they necessarily deserve to be condemned.

Also, I do not necessarily speak of certain
organizations as a whole who promote modern civil rights. The organizations
themselves are made up of diverse groups of individuals, many of whom may not
approve of the national policies of their various groups, or the current
leaderships and their goals.

For example, though a member of the Sons of
Confederate Veterans, I personally do not approve of the recent actions of the
SCV leadership in regards to the Florida Division SCV's omission of a marker for Union soldiers at the Olustee National Battlefield in Florida. I feel that
the American men who died there deserve to have that marker, even if they were
the "enemy" -- I'd say the same if one wanted to place another marker
for British Loyalists at the Kings Mountain National Battlefield in my native
South Carolina. That's just my sense of honor when it comes to respect for
those American-born men who fought in America's Wars.

However, it is about one particular segment of the Opposition that I would like to
address. Groups of individuals who care nothing for open discussions with those
who honor that flag or Southern heritage as a whole - or at least
"Southern heritage" that isn't defined by them, or their useful
idiots. Who feel any sort of dialogue is beneath them, and view anyone who
disagrees with their own set opinions with nothing but contempt.

These are people who hear the words of Southern
heritage activists, of groups and individuals who seek nothing more than to
honor their ancestry, their blood and their heritage peacefully and without
malice - and reject any gesture of good will, while at the same time applying
broad labels to others, mocking them, calling them any sort of vile, hateful
name; all the while patting themselves on the backs for being oh-so
"tolerant" and "progressive" (at least by their own
questionable definition of said terms).

Such is the mentality of the politically correct
drone, a person who gives lip-service to individual liberty, but condemns
anyone who does not meet or conform to all political and social standards they share. Sometimes
even failure to conform to a single
aspect of the current politically correct ideology (Example: opposing the death
penalty and also opposing abortion) will earn someone the labels: racist,
sexist, bigot, homophobic, ect.

The message from these anti-Southern and Confederate heritage reactionaries is
quite clear: Conform Or Be Labeled.

All of this in the name of faux compassion and empathy -- claiming to speak up for black Americans
and other minorities, all of whom are more than capable of speaking up
for themselves as individuals and need no "great white hope" in the form
of a typical white Liberal to be their mouthpiece. I'd personally
consider a lower part of the anatomy to describe what they are, but I
will refrain out of respect for any women reading. Indulgence of ignorance for the sake of uselessly saying "I feel your pain" is not compassion, not empathy. For the politically correct drone, it has never truly been about protecting people harmed by the sight of that flag. What it has really been about is using the issue to convince others - including themselves - of their own alleged moral righteousness.

Such people cannot comprehend how anyone -
regardless of what color their skin, or their faith - can proudly call
themselves a Confederate descendant, display the Dixie Cross as a living
cultural symbol; while at the same time be a proud American who lives mentally
in the 21st century, while respecting positive values of the past. Their own
emotional attachment to their "progressive" ideology cannot allow for
the idea that anyone who doesn't meet their own rigid standards of
"tolerant" could be capable of any act of good will.

They cannot understand, or simple choose not to understand.

No, they
shout. If you fly that flag, or put it on
your car, you have to be a racist! If
you're a minority who displays it you've been brainwashed! If you refuse to put
it away and "get your mind right" we're going to come after you and
shame you, berate you, attack you with all we have!

I have seen this mentality in action for the last 23
years. I have seen all efforts at working towards promoting the positive
aspects of Confederate heritage and identity and the people who do so attacked
relentlessly. I have seen what amounts to rage at any effort to honor the
Southern dead - recognized American Veterans. I have seen monuments removed,
flags torn down, and even suggestions that graves be relocated, for no better
reason than the words: "someone was offended."

What drives this thinking - if you want to call
politically correctness "thinking" (I personally call those words together the biggest oxymoron ever
thought up by the human race) this drive to attack anyone who disagrees
with them and displays that flag stubbornly and proudly in the face of such
character attacks?

You ask any PC drone, the best answer you will
always get nine-out-of-ten-times would be some variation on the words: White supremacists adopted that flag, it's
been co-opted as their symbol, and its therefore racist. White supremacist groups who continue to misuse the Dixie
Cross and co-opt it have no legitimate claim to that flag. Indeed the
official banners of the Ku Klux Klan in America are the United States
Flag and the Christian Flag. Neo-Nazi groups rarely misuse the
Confederate flag, or display the US flag, opting instead to display the
traditional swastika banners of Nazi Germany. More often one will find
the Betsy Ross banner at a Neo-Nazi rally in America than one will find a
Dixie Cross.

As I pointed out, Confederate heritage organizations,
and various individuals in American and around the world, both disagree and
actively speak out against that....and rightly so! In doing so, we as Southerners and Americans take away the power of that flag in the wrong hands to cause pain to our fellow human beings. We take a realistic and powerful stand against said white supremacist attitudes and move forward as a Southern culture, and as individuals.

This is not good enough for the anti-Confederate flag reactionaries of the Opposition, so they
oppose us. They mock the efforts, and actively stand in the way of any attempt
to educate others to speak out against such misuses, decrying it as nonsense -
and in doing so actively support the continued
misuse of the Dixie Cross and, by extension, those who commit said misuse and
their own twisted racial ideology.

That my friends is what makes hatred of the
Confederate flag pro-white supremacist, and those people who attack Southern heritage defenders to be indirect bigots as
well. When you stand against those preserve and honor the positives of that flag for all Southerners, when you reject the premise of a living Southern heritage and identity, when you label anyone who disagrees with you, then you not only conform to a worldview that continues to permit wrong-thinking agents of bigotry to use the flag as a tool of terror, you actually offer your personal stamp of approval for such acts. In short you offer legitimacy to those who choose to inflict terror with that flag as opposed to recognizing the positive display of that symbol as one of personal pride and identity for Southerners of all color and creeds.

Whenever I put that flag on a grave, wear it on a
t-shirt, and carry it on a Confederate Memorial Day or US Veteran's Day parade,
I am comfortable knowing I honor that flag for all the right reasons. I am a
member of the SCV and a Confederate descendant, and I proudly work with them to
promote the positives of the flag, and its role in a vast tapestry of Southern
heritage and history - as well as its continue positive role in promoting a
living cultural identity that millions across the world proudly honor.

I am also proud to know that in doing so I stand against the mentality of a narrow-minded
bigot who would wrongly throw that flag in the face of another human being to
feed their own anger and hatred. I am also proud to say I have done so on a
personal level as well.

The same cannot truly be said of the Opposition. When that person says: I believe that flag is a racist symbol. I respond with: Well buddy, so does the guy in the white sheet shouting the ugly slurs. The truth of the matter is when you call that flag racist, and they label
those who really honor that flag and reject such bigotry as racist, you are morally accepting the misuse of that
flag by haters as the norm - and by extension offering your personal endorsement of the pain caused by such
wrongful misuse.

So what does that say about you?

In my opinion, it says a hell of a lot.

Thankfully those of us who honor that flag's true heritage don't share the same misguided, pro-white supremacist viewpoint.

Wednesday, June 24, 2015

It is wrong to subject black people to
the Confederate battle flag, or to ask a black American to accept that banner
in any way. To do so discounts the pain that the sight of that banner causes to
those who lost family members to racial injustices, to lynchings, and other
atrocities committed by those who displayed that flag out of hatred.

The flag was birthed during a treasonous
rebellion against the United States by those who wanted slavery to continue in
America and engaged in a war that murdered more than half a million Americans. Its
meaning therefore cannot be divorced from its origins.

Its history beyond that war is further tarnished
with its display and use by those who supported racial segregation through
violent means. The flag is covered in the blood of the innocent. It is often
seen as the favored banner of hate groups that promote white supremacy today.

Many Americans today see the battle flag
is an "American swastika" and it will always be seen as such. We are
one nation under one flag, it's time to let go of that tarnished symbol of a
shameful past for good.

It doesn't matter what your own feelings
are, even if they are not racially or politically motivated, even if the
intentions are well meaning and honorable. No matter how much honoring dead
soldiers and people who lived a century and a half ago means to you, the
tolerant thing to do is concede to the emotions of the moment for the greater
good of your fellow Americans living today.

When someone's feelings are hurt its
time to put away the things that offend. It simply has to go, how can anyone
argue with that logic? How can there be any further debate on the matter?

With
those words, those six paragraphs, I have pretty much summed up the entire
argument advanced by those who oppose the public display of the Dixie Cross
(battle flag) in just about any context, either officially sanctioned by State
and local government, or displayed by everyday individuals who honor what they
feel it stands for.

There
was a time in the past that I have always been willing to give flag opponents
the benefit of the doubt. There is no doubt many of the people who feel this
way are well meaning people who honestly believe they are doing the right thing
for the sake of "tolerance and progress" - at least as far as their
education and sense of logic would define the terms. I would also be among the
first to concede the point that on average a good many people who hold that
point of view are not always themselves anti-Southern, nor anti-free speech. Indeed
some of those same people are Southern born and claim Confederate ancestry
themselves.

The
argument itself is simple, well rounded, and - some would argue -- perfectly
logical: If its offensive get rid of it.
Be tolerant. Be sensitive. Show respect.

Simple.

So
how do we as Confederate descendants who honor the Dixie Cross as a living
symbol of Southern identity and remembrance for the Confederate dead counter
this argument? With the truth as we know it, of course. Often times however, that
proves not to be enough.

Here
are some examples of what I mean:

The flag is a symbol of "Southern
heritage".

An
utterly disambiguous term for those who do not understand fully what that term
truly means when applied to in the grand scheme of Southern history from pre-European
colonial times to the present day.

The
flag is a memorial for the Confederate dead.

But
there are monuments in practically every Southern town in America with
inscriptions detailing Confederate heroism, so then is flying that flag at any
of them truly necessary?

The flag is a symbol of Southern pride
and identity.

Surely
there are other symbols that even Confederate descendants can take pride in,
after all didn't the CSA have other flags
which haven't been co-opted by bigots in white sheets and hoods?

Flying it is about "Heritage Not
Hate" and "Pride Not Prejudice".

Mere
slogans, meaningless, powerless words that do nothing but argue against what
can easily be countered with image upon image of that flag displayed by the
worst sort of human trash, racists in white hoods, or shaved heads and brown
shirts, or simply black and white photos of ignorant people protesting the
integration of schools in the late 50s and 60s.

Of
course we can respond to any of these counter arguments with historic truths from
the South's historical perspective. We can counter images of the misuse of that
flag with ten times as many other images where that flag is not used in any
racist or obscene way. We can even counter with image upon image of the United
States flag misused in much the same way by the same people for the same
hateful purposes for far longer. That if Americans were willing to give our
national banner the benefit of the doubt surely the banner of the Confederate
soldier deserves the same consideration?

These
responses inevitably lead to other arguments and likewise familiar talking
points from the Opposition. After awhile the shouting starts, recriminations
and accusations are throw around, emotions flare, and absolutely no progress
one way or the other is made. No hearts or minds changed, no eyes opened; just
more of the same bitter feelings that brought about this entire controversial
debate in the first place.

So
again our opponents would ask: "Why
not just give up and move forward with the rest of the world?" Never
mind that for most of us their exact definition of the term "moving
forward" is just as disambiguous as the term "Southern heritage"
may be for them. Indeed I doubt a good many who express a need to "move
forward" have much of a clue what it is they want to move forward to.

Also
overlook the fact that - with only very few exceptions - the rest of the
world by large has no controversy with either the display, or symbolism, of the
Dixie Cross. The misguided views of that flag as a symbol of racism is for the
most part a distinctly American concept. But then again such oversights are
more often trivial to the Opposition - or perhaps it could also be that the "rest of the world" is their figurative
way of saying "everyone who lives in our own way of thinking" and not
literally applied?

Many
people in America today share the opinion that the Dixie Cross is a negative symbol
with a negative past that must be banished from civilized society. An opinion
currently shared by a good many of America's most powerful political and social
leaders both Left and Right of center, and - for the most part - by those who
currently control American popular
culture, who all but reinforces this negative view of both that flag and the
people who display it at every chance they get.

The
fact that there are more than a handful of small-minded agents of racial hatred
in America today who display this flag when committing some heinous and
intolerable act does nothing but legitimize said negative views. These acts are
all pointed to eagerly by the current Establishment as further proof of their
alleged moral high ground. The fact that they likewise legitimize the haters themselves
and some of their ideals in the process of establishing their claims against
the advocates of Southern heritage seems to escapes the Establishment at times
though. But hey, never mind, as long as the narrative fits, right?

In
the face of so much opposition and negative emotion towards the Dixie Cross and
its display, obviously defending its presence can often times prove
overwhelming, even demoralizing for those of us who continue to stubbornly
honor it. So much so that there are even at present those very few among our
own Southern Heritage Preservation Movement, including those among the historic
and heritage groups like the Sons of Confederate Veterans (SCV) and United
Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC), and even some among the Southern
Nationalist organizations, who support the idea of a change of banners to one
of the less known historical battle flags, or the first national banner.

They
would argue that we need to grow and expand, and to do so we have to appeal to
the unbiased masses. We have to put aside the banner, change our groups logos,
not display it at public gatherings, at memorial services, or sometimes even at
the graves of our honored dead.

Not permanently, they add to reassure the rest of us, but just for a
few decades or so until things get better and more people can be informed about
Southern heritage and how it applies today. That the Dixie Cross should be
packed away safely and lovingly for better times. Their misguided way of
showing the Opposition that, see look at us, we can be tolerant and sensitive
to your feelings too.

So
why don't we simply take down the flags, furl them up, put them in a closet or
basement, and put up something that better symbolizes our Southern and American
heritage as a whole? After all it would be so much easier than the hassle of
resisting a viewpoint based on the negative feelings about that banner so many
people are adamant on advancing.

So
what if it means conceding a seemingly outdated piece of red cloth with a blue
cross to modern racist groups with few if any legitimate historical claims to
that banner and to other individuals with sordid causes who use it to terrorize
non-white Americans, including the descendants of non-white Confederate
soldiers? They've already tarnished that banner after all, so why take up so
much time trying to fight against what seems to be the judgment of American history
regarding that flag?

After
all we are "One Nation Under One Flag" the Opposition says - though
the fact that there are in fact fifty State flags and several territorial
banners under American sovereignty seems to be a bit lost in that particular
argument, but hey, why let a little detail like that stand in the way of an
emotional plea for "tolerance" huh? The Opposition certainly doesn't
so who are we to do so?

According
to the Opposition those of us who continue to honor Confederate soldiers are just
as bunch of Lost Cause throwbacks who look at the past with rose colored
glasses, dreaming of moonlight and magnolias. Of course by virtue of their theoretically
advanced education and the "tolerance" they show to the emotions and
politics of the day, they are right by default. They're the ones who currently hold
the power in popular culture and academia now. They're the ones who champion
the "accepted" views of history that popular culture advance today,
with just a little tiny hint of their own personal political philosophies
thrown into the mix.

They
are the current modern Establishment, the Politically Correct.

The
arguments against the display of the Dixie Cross, as I said, are well rounded -
perhaps even a bit circular - and very simple. They are based on emotion that
one simply cannot discount.

I
doubt there are but a few among us who honor that flag that are so hardened to
stories of past injustices that any of us can completely brush them aside. I
know I've heard my share of them, some of which are forever burned into my
memory.

Among
the worst of these (because I had a visual aid for it) was from a black
Southern man from North Carolina who showed me a scar behind his ear where a
white man with a Southern Cross tag on his truck's front bumper smashed a Coke
bottle over his head and then, - along with two other white men - kicked him
repeatedly when he lay curled up on the sidewalk unable to defend himself.

This
gentleman told me something I would never forget, something that would stay
with me haunting my thoughts to this day. He told me that while he was down on
the ground he saw people walking on the sidewalk turn and go the other way.
Nobody helped him, one even smirked as he walked by.

Needless
to say I feel a deep shame that such things ever have happened in this Southern
land of my birth, and certainly that it happened under a banner that I consider - next to another great American banner - near and dear to my heart. It makes
me sick to know that in isolated cases such actions still happen today. Indeed
every time I read such a story, or hear from the mouths of a fellow Southerner
of color a tale of injustice and torture, even death, nothing can stop the
tears from coming to my eyes.

I've
even been witness to one such incident personally, and although I took a personal
stand against it, the fact that it happened will always remain a terrible scar
in my memory.

At
this point I can practically hear the Opposition's thoughts as they read my
words:

Then if that is the case, why do you
continue to argue for and fly a banner which has come to stand for so much
pain?!

No matter what you feel about some dead
soldiers, that flag hurts feelings and it offends people living and breathing today!

I mean, do you get some sick thrill out
of waving that flag in the face of black people who are afraid of the sight of
it?!

Isn't it time to put aside your
"Lost Cause" nostalgia and your misguided quest to somehow
"redeem" that flag?! Don't you know that's as much a lost cause as that
war your ancestors started in the first place?!

Indeed,
why don't we do just that? Why not? I mean it's certainly easier to surrender
to the passions and the politics of the present. It's so much simpler to
surrender ones individuality to the group mindset, especially when that sense
of identity is allegedly harmful to others who fear the motives behind it -
regardless if said fear is real, or more often times imagined. Why work so hard,
and endure so much anger and accusations, to fight for what appears to be the
redemption of a relic, a piece of the past that is better off hanging in the
back of some museum - preferably out of the view of part of a segment of the public
that would cringe at the sight of it?

Why
don't we?

This Is Why

Well
ladies and gentlemen, let me tell you why I for one will never lower, nor renounce, the Dixie Cross. Why I will never stop defending its display, and
why I will never cease to speak out
against those who tarnish it, and those who choose to discount what it truly stands
for in my heart - and the hearts of its defenders - as a living symbol or our
shared Southern identity and Confederate heritage.

Let
me tell you why I, a Southern-born man and proud descendant of a Confederate
soldier, would rather endure the hatred and disgusted looks of those so
offended by even the mention of the Dixie Cross banner rather than surrender it
to those who through actions and words attempt to define it unjustly as a
symbol of hate.

What
makes me so willing to defend that old battle-tattered flag and to endure the ridicule
of the "tolerant" of American society? To make myself a willingly
subject to the scornful judgments of the "politically correct" who
dictate through popular culture those whom they alone define as worthy to be a
part of the popular clique deserving of praise and respect.

These
are my consistent views on the matter which I now state for the record. I know that some of these are going to shock both
friends and opponents alike, but please indulge me for just a bit and I will
make things clear.

I am
not going to offer you some slogan like "Heritage Not Hate" though it
is a view I fully agree with. The flag is a part of Southern heritage as a
whole, but also a big part of the Confederate heritage aspect of that Southern
identity - which has both its noble and its less than noble aspects, neither
of which can totally be disregarded if a final solution to this debate can ever
be resolved honorably.

I will
certainly not offer any sort of justification for the South's war for
independence and it's root causes.

I
fully accept that the issue of slavery in America was one of the main reasons
that seven Southern States felt the need to evoke what they felt was their
right of secession from the United States of America because the then Democrat
politicians in the South felt that the balance of power was against them with
the election of 1860. At least six formal documents outlining the articles of
secession of these State governments from the Union mention slavery and the
compromises toward the westward expansion of that institution - and by
extension the limits put on the political power of one section of the country
in favor of another - as the main reason for their decision to declare their
States sovereign entities. Slavery and attacks on that institution over several
decades and the subsequent weakening on Southern political power were among
those reasons they left, there is no way to deny that without looking like a
total fool.

I
also accept that one of the main reasons the Confederate States of America was
formed - beyond the need of seven sovereign States as they saw themselves to
form a bond of mutual defense - was to preserve the institution of slavery as
an economic engine of Southern agrarian culture until such a time that it could
rationally be phased out and replaced.

I
also accept that given the racial attitudes of most predominately European
dominated Western societies and imperial colonies in the 19th Century, white
supremacist thinking was the accepted standard norm - the cornerstone of those
societies - and remained so until the 20th century and the great struggles for
human rights and racial equality. The Confederate States of America were no
different, this fact being reasserted by the words of Confederate Vice
President Alexander Stephens in his infamous "Cornerstone Speech" of
1861.

I
also fully accept that had the CSA formally assured its independence (I won't
say "won it" because from a certain point of view, they were an independent - though formally
unrecognized - country for four years) at the end of the War Between the
States, the institution of African slavery would most likely have endured on
the North American continent for at least another two to three more decades
(Brazil ended slavery through manumission in 1888 and likely the CSA would have
done the same by the end of the 19th century).

Those
are all historical facts, both in America and for the state of the 19th century
world at large, none of which are in dispute in any detail - except perhaps
the idea that the CSA was not an independent nation outside of foreign
recognition. I would also add that I do not fully accept that the establishment of a permanent
slave class in America was the main goal of Confederate leaders in leaving the
Union specifically, rather that it was a deeper difference over constitutional
principles concerning the rights of the government and of the Several States
with the issue of slavery in the western territories being the spark that set
off a political powder keg that began following the American Revolutionary War
and the formation of the Union itself.

Nor
will I defend the war that battle flag was born in.

The
Confederacy fired the first shots of that war, again no denying that, though I
would question the idea that secession itself was what caused the War, or made
it inevitable, rather than the fact the Union failed to recognize the
establishment of the Southern Confederacy as a nation within its own right. That
is not to say that the South was wrong to evoke what if felt was the right of
secession. The US Constitution made no such provision, though several States
that joined the United States of America in 1787 did so under the provision
they could leave if they so choose. There was no specific consensus on the
issue of secession in America at that time, nor was the South the only section of the country that
considered evoking the right prior to 1860.

I
would also add that the issue of secession was not legally settled until the
court case Brown v Texas in 1869, a full four years AFTER the War ended, so I
don't feel that the charge of "treason" can fully be applied to the
South, or any Confederate leader. For the record, I believe that neither side was technically wrong in so
far as how they defined the rights of the Several States and the US
Constitution.

I
will not argue a case for war.

I
despise war and what it stands for, namely the rejection of reason that
separates humanity from the other animals in nature. When we choose to fight
war, no matter the cause, we choose to throw away civilization and revert back
to the darker more primal parts of our human nature. Both sides governments and
civil leaders were guilty of allowing that war to happen, for the death and
destruction that followed; and both the winners and losers - even those freed
as a result of its outcome - were all tarnished forever by the ugliness and
bitterness that followed.

I
won't re-fight that war because it is not my
war. It was fought 150 years ago and the men who fought it are long dead.

Yet,
in saying that I will be the first to speak up for the memories of their
sacrifices and service of the Confederate citizen soldier who fought in the
South's defense. I will also state, again for the record, that I do not think they were
wrong in either fighting to defend their unrecognized independence, nor guilty
of treason for defending their homes from invasion.

I
also believe that for the vast majority of those men and boys who wore the
hallowed gray and butternut uniforms of Dixie, the defense of the Confederate
government and the social institution of slavery were of less personal
importance than the defense of their homeland and their personal honor as a fiercely
independent Southerner people.

I
will also contend that the battle flags they flew in the war itself were less
symbols of their governments, rather they were symbols of their regiments and
units - of their fellow soldiers themselves. Of esprit-de-corps. The original banners were created by their wives,
sisters, and loved ones. They were more than just battlefield markers. Those
pieces of cloth were reminders for those Southern men and boys of home, of
family, of community, and for those who they lived and fought with. That's why
they fought so hard to protect them in the heat of battle, never letting them
touch the ground. That's why they cried over those worn and tattered emblems
when they were forced to surrender them in April of 1865.

It
was the soldier's flag first and
foremost.

Finally,
when those flags were returned to the surviving aged veterans who wore the
tattered gray and butternut of Dixie, and to their sons and daughters of those
soldiers in 1905 by the very government they were surrendered to, any so-called
"treason" assigned to those flags and the men who fought and died
under them was absolved - by the men who fought against them and their sons no
less.

The
symbol of that flag became a precious gift given by those veterans to their
descendants: a living symbol of
Southern honor (I won't say "glory" because that is a word assigned
to justify the meaningless slaughter of war) that was woven into the tapestry
that is Southern cultural identity, and a memorial to the dead of the
Confederacy and the heritage of blood that links the generations together. A hereditary
symbol that shares a history beyond that horrible war to the present day. A
history that has its good moments, and its bad ones - neither of which should
be entirely overlooked.

For
the rest of my argument, I will stick to defending the modern meaning of the
Dixie Cross and what it means to Southerners in the 21st century, particularly
to Confederate descendants today.

Before
going on allow me to concede another point: Yes, not all Confederate descendants approve of the display of that flag.

This
is an unfortunate fact, one brought about by a number of educational and social
factors, but ultimately by the personal choice of the individuals in question. I
will not include those particular individuals in my broad definition of
Southerners and Confederate descendants. To do so would be as disingenuous as
the arguments made by those members of the Opposition who claim that
"black people" are offended by its display; a broad argument that
presumes to claim the perspective of the vast majority of millions of
American-born individuals solely on the views of one vocal segment. Such
arguments are counter to independent thinking and presumes to reduce said
people to vast focus groups rather than reasoning, thinking human beings.

Rather
I will include only those tens of millions across this world on six continents;
people of all races, religions, creeds, and nationalities who can claim a
single strand of Confederate ancestral DNA and who honor both that ancestry and
the honorable display of the Dixie Cross. A vast and distinct group of people
and cultures from a broad spectrum who are bound together by a common respect
for those who wore the gray and butternut of the Confederate military and
carried the various battle flags of those armies.

Also
allow me to clarify that by "honorable display" of the Dixie Cross, I
refer to any display of the battle flag as purely an identifying symbol of
Southern-American identity significant to the heredity of Confederate
descendants, and other Southern-born people, with no personal racial aspects
implied. Across the American Southland and the world at large approximately 95%
of such displays are made simply to convey a simple expression of honoring and
remembering a distinct individual's Southern cultural identity and heritage. This
can also apply to historical displays where the Dixie Cross is placed at
Confederate monuments, grave sites, old battlefield sites, and in any number of
significant contexts by Confederate descendants groups during recognized memorial
days and historical anniversaries.

Resolution
And Resolve

On Saturday, August 19, 1989, the Sons
of Confederate Veterans, an organization made up of lineal descendants of the
Confederate citizen soldier, unanimously passed and adopted a profound resolution
at their General Convention in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, which reads:

WHEREAS, the use of the Confederate Battle Flag by extremist political
groups and individuals who seek to clothe themselves in respectability
by misappropriating the banner under which our southern ancestors fought
for a cause which was noble as much latter day use is ignoble, and

WHEREAS, The Sons of Confederate Veterans are the true inheritors of
legacy and symbols for which the Confederate Veterans fought and died, and

WHEREAS, The Sons of Confederate Veterans does denounce the use of
the Confederate Battle Flag and any other Confederate symbol by the Ku
Klux Klan as the desecration of a symbol to which the Ku Klux Klan has no
claim, and

WHEREAS, the misuse of the Confederate Battle Flag by any extremist
group or individual espousing political extremism and/or racial
superiority degrades the Confederate Battle Flag and maligns the noble
purpose of our ancestors who fought against extreme odds for what they
believed was just, right, and constitutional, and

WHEREAS, the misuse of other flags and symbols of the Confederate States
of America and the Confederate States Army, Navy, and Marines is
similarly degrading,

NOW, THEREFORE , BE IT RESOLVED, that the Sons of Confederate Veterans
in General Convention assembled in Oklahoma City ,Oklahoma, does
hereby condemn in the strongest terms possible the use of the Confederate
Battle Flag or any other flag, symbol, seal, title, or name bearing
any relationship whatsoever to the Confederate States of America or the
armed forces of that government by any such extremist group or individual,
of whatever name or designation by which known, and

LET IT BE FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Sons of Confederate Veterans ,
in General Convention assembled , does hereby condemn in the strongest
terms possible the inappropriate uses of the Confederate Battle Flag or
any other flag ,seal, title to name bearing any relationship whatsoever to
the Confederate States of America or to the armed forces of the Government
of the Confederate States of America by individuals or groups of
individuals, organized or unorganized, who espouse political extremism or
racial superiority.

With those profound words, the SCV declared before America and before the whole world that the Dixie Cross - the living
symbol of modern Southern-American cultural identity and historical heritage;
the memorial to the honored Southern dead, men recognized as American Veterans
equal to all others - would henceforth and forever mean nothing in the unworthy hands of those who promoted racial hatred.

Granted that as profound a moment that was, it
would have been better all around if that noble declaration had taken place -
say around 1962 at the height of its cultural prominence, when that flag was
the subject of that dishonorable misuse, many times at the hands of white
Southerners, as a tool of defiance against integration of schools and equal
voting rights. Had that resolution been delivered then odds are good that while
some would have ignored it, a good many more might have taken a step back and
realized the dishonor such actions were towards that flag's true heritage. Perhaps
then, the stains of bigotry would not have been so glaringly bad, and the
process of finding a balance between that flag's history as a battlefield
emblem and its heritage as a cultural and hereditary icon might have come much
further along, rather than become further jumbled.

Yet, the fact remains that it was the lineal descendants of the
Confederate soldier that finally stood up and said before the world: No More! Not Now And Never Again!

Since the time that resolution passed, a growing
cultural movement in Dixie has risen against those who attack and who misuse
that flag for their own twisted purposes. A chorus of voices that was joined by
the United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC) and the Sons of Union Veterans Civil War (SUVCW) - the descendants of those who fought against the
Confederate soldier.

Who after all is more qualified to define the
true meaning of the Dixie Cross than the bloodline of those who actually
carried the original battle standards into battle - and those ironically who
fought against them, won the war, and ultimately returned those same banners
out of a spirit of true American reconciliation?

Yet, as I mentioned before, this is far from
universal in regards to all Confederate descendants, and certainly with the
descendants of their Union opponents. Many of them are all too eager to simply
toss aside one aspect of their cultural identity and ancestry simply to live
comfortablyand conveniently in the
present with those who practice a one-sided, collectivist view of
"tolerance." These individuals are more than willing - in the
interest of surrendering to what's fashionable in the present - to speak loudly
against those who fight against such misuse. Who are more than willing - in
order to appear in goosestep (oops....I meant "lockstep") with the Establishment - to tear those Dixie Cross
off of monuments to the honored dead, fold it up, hand it over to those who
continue to dishonor it and say: Here,
it's yours now and forever! and in doing so, legitimizing such hatred,while
at the same time arrogantly proclaiming that they are against hatred. Who stand
smugly with the Establishment in mockery, in labeling, and worse in violent
hatred against those who stand defiantly against the real bigots, and who seek
nothing more and nothing less than simply to honor their living Southern
heritage and ancestry.

Such people dishonor their own blood, and worse,
promote the very hate they themselves claim to reject, not just against their
fellow Southerners, but against their fellow Americans and people of good will
around the world, who speak up and say: No
More!

Final
Thoughts

I am proud to say that when that same resolution
was reaffirmed at the SCV National Convention in Anderson, South Carolina in
July, 2010, I was there as a member of that band of brothers - men of all
colors, faiths, and identities who shared a common bond of blood - to proudly
state before the South, before America, and before the world, that I will never
sit by while someone throws that flag in another human being's face out of
mean-spirited hatred and bigotry without speaking out and declaring to those
same haters: No more! You do not have my
permission to dishonor the banner my ancestor gave his life under! You do not
have the right to use it to create fear and hatred in the heart of another
human soul! You do not have my permission to do so without me speaking out and
letting everyone know there is a difference between those who hate and those
who honor!

I am also proud to say today that not a story
about that flag in media and American popular culture being misused for racial
bigotry can be reported without at least one or more Southerners, or other
Americans of good will, standing up and saying that the Dixie Cross does not
belong to the haters, its belongs rightly with the South and all its people - Confederate descendants
and non-descendants alike.

That number is steadily growing stronger.

I believe that in the decades to come the angry
voices, the voices of fear and hate will count for less and less, and the
voices that speak out for honor and True Tolerance will count for more. There
will be a day when a casual display of that flag will never insult, or frighten
another American regardless of their color. When someone who honors that flag
as a symbol of their culture will be given the benefit of the doubt by all.

Does this mean ignoring the past misuse of that
flag? Forgetting all the ugliness associated from that misuse? No, absolutely
not! To forget dishonors those wronged, and it permits the possibility of evil
to again take root. It also does no honor to cover up the negatives. They must
be remembered, if only to make the good parts of its history and heritage shine
all the brighter. This is the only way to bring justice, without malice, to all
generations of the Southland - past and present.

We must remember and acknowledge the full history
of the Dixie Cross - the good and the bad - as we must remember the history
of the good and bad in all cultural symbols, and in the human soul. We must
remember, and we must stand together today and say: Never Again!

If you want me to tell you why I think this end
is worth it? Well like the Opposition, let me make both the questions and the answer
simple:

Why don't I forget the Dixie Cross? Why don't I
give it up and join the politically correct thinking of today?

Because if I did, then their memories die....

....I would be betraying these honorable people, my fellow descendants and Southerners....

....and I would be allowing these
"people" would win.

The memories of those who fell under that flag,
the honor of those who respect it today, and the heritage it represents are not for sale.

Author of several short science-fiction/fantasy stories and celebrated fanfiction author for various cartoon series and science fiction series, Mr. Roden has written over 40 stories under various pseudonyms; best noted for writing the award-winning Hey Arnold! fanfiction story:Arnold's Couch Confessionsin 2003.

Mr. Roden is currently working on his first full-length science fiction-fantasy novel, as well as several other writing projects.

He is a resident of Chester County, South Carolina, USA. (Profile written by: N. McRae - with love.)

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